World number one Dustin Johnson a doubt for the Masters after injuring back in ‘serious fall’ on stairs

World number one Dustin Johnson was hoping a late start would help rescue his bid for a fourth straight victory after injuring his back on the eve of the Masters.

Johnson, who was the favourite to win his second major title at Augusta National, suffered a “serious fall” after the cancellation of the traditional par-three contest due to bad weather.

“At roughly 3pm, Dustin took a serious fall on a staircase in his Augusta rental home,” his agent David Winkle said in a statement.

“He landed very hard on his lower back and is now resting, although quite uncomfortably. He has been advised to remain immobile and begin a regimen of anti-inflammatory medication and icing, with the hope of being able to play.”

Johnson, who missed the 2012 Masters after reportedly injuring his back when lifting a jet-ski, at least had the advantage of being in the final group out on Thursday at 2:03pm local time.

The 32-year-old won the Genesis Open in February to reach world number one and then added victories in the WGC-Mexico Championship and WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

He has also finished sixth and fourth in his last two Masters appearances, but was coincidentally taking nothing for granted in his pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday.

“I mean, golf, it’s a funny game,” the US Open champion said. “It doesn’t matter how good you’re playing, you can still not win. Same goes for this week.

“If I want to win here, everything’s going to have to go well for me. I’m going to have to drive it well, hit my irons well, putt it well.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in my game right now, especially with the way I’ve been playing the last few tournaments. But, you know, anything can happen.”

Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus were due to act as honorary starters at 7.40am, with Masters officials opting not to bring in a replacement for the late Arnold Palmer, who performed the role from 2007-2016 before his death last September.

American Russell Henley, who was the last man into the event by virtue of his victory in the Shell Houston Open, was in the first group out in the tournament proper at 8am alongside compatriot Daniel Summerhays.

Rory McIlroy was scheduled to start his bid to become the sixth player to complete the career grand slam at 1.41pm in the company of Spain’s
Jon Rahm and Japan’s Hideto Tanihara.

And defending champion Danny Willett, who is looking to join Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Nick Faldo in winning back-to-back titles, gets his campaign under way at 12.24pm alongside Matt Kuchar and Australian amateur Curtis Luck.